Full Freeview on the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) transmitter
 | Google Streetview |  | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 52.130,-0.242 or 52°7'47"N 0°14'33"W |  | SG19 2NH |
The symbol shows the location of the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) transmitter which serves 920,000 homes. The bright green areas shown where the signal from this transmitter is strong, dark green areas are poorer signals. Those parts shown in yellow may have interference on the same frequency from other masts.
Are there any planned engineering works or unexpected transmitter faults on the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) mast?
Sandy Heath transmitter - Sandy Heath transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 01/12/2025 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels 
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Digital television services are broadcast on a multiplexes (or Mux) where many stations occupy a single broadcast frequency, as shown below.
64QAM 8K 3/4 27.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
Which Freeview channels does the Sandy Heath transmitter broadcast?
If you have any kind of Freeview fault, follow this Freeview reset procedure first.Digital television services are broadcast on a multiplexes (or Mux) where many stations occupy a single broadcast frequency, as shown below.
64QAM 8K 3/4 27.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
Which BBC and ITV regional news can I watch from the Sandy Heath transmitter?
BBC Look East (West) 1.0m homes 3.7%
from Cambridge CB4 0WZ, 29km east-northeast (65°)
to BBC Cambridge region - 4 masts.
70% of BBC East (East) and BBC East (West) is shared output
ITV Anglia News 1.0m homes 3.7%
from Norwich NR1 3JG, 119km east-northeast (60°)
to ITV Anglia (West) region - 5 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 80% evening news is shared with Anglia (East)
How will the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1965-80s | 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2011 | 2011-13 | 12 Feb 2020 | ||||
| VHF | A K T | K T | K T | W T | W T | ||||
| C6 | ITVwaves | ||||||||
| C21 | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | +BBCB | BBCB | ||||
| C24 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | D3+4 | D3+4 | ||||
| C27 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBCA | BBCA | ||||
| C31 | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | ||||||
| C32 | com7 | ||||||||
| C33 | SDN | ||||||||
| C34 | com8 | ||||||||
| C35 | _local | ||||||||
| C36 | ArqA | ||||||||
| C39 | C5waves | C5waves | |||||||
| C43 | _local | ||||||||
| C48 | ArqB | ArqB | |||||||
| C51tv_off | SDN | ||||||||
| C52tv_off | ArqA | ||||||||
| C55tv_off | com7tv_off | ||||||||
| C56tv_off | COM8tv_off |
tv_off Being removed from Freeview (for 5G use) after November 2020 / June 2022 - more
Table shows multiplexes names see this article;
green background for transmission frequencies
Notes: + and - denote 166kHz offset; aerial group are shown as A B C/D E K W T
waves denotes analogue; digital switchover was 30 Mar 11 and 13 Apr 11.
How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?
| Analogue 1-4 | 1000kW | |
| BBCA, D3+4, BBCB | (-7.4dB) 180kW | |
| SDN, ARQA, ARQB | (-7.7dB) 170kW | |
| com7 | (-13dB) 49.6kW | |
| com8 | (-13.1dB) 49.1kW | |
| Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D* | (-17dB) 20kW | |
| Analogue 5 | (-20dB) 10kW |
Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Sandy Heath transmitter area
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Tuesday, 4 March 2025
O
Owen4:11 AM
Chris,
Thank you for your update 'correction' over this.
Despite the 700MHz clearance apparently being completed by Sep 2020 - So max frequency that should have been used was 694MHz (Ch.48) - it seems COM7 etc still carried-on, operating on channels above 48, on some transmitters after this.
However, I've now found out that this apparently finally-ended in June 2022.
Although, strangely, group T aerials are still being sold by many DIY places
- with them only stocking that (originally 'universal' group replacement for group W) group T.
And, even more strangely, some aerial manufacturers still appear to be making group T aerials (as well as group K), such as: 48 Element F-Type High Gain Aerial Group T | Blake Aerials - Blake UK
So it seems no-one has told them there's now no point in having a Group T aerial!
And in-fact it could be much worse than using a group K one (of which some have Low Pass Filters to reject signals > Ch.48), as you could then be picking-up more 5G interferrence in future!
Therefore, it looks like getting a decent Group K aerial, and hopefully that will improve things, if it help to reject unwanted frequencies, and also hopefully the in-band performance on a bit-narrower band should be flatter / more likely to be better directivity and less pick-up from the sides at band edges.
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C
Chris.SE6:46 AM
Owen:
I think you'll find that all the aerial manufacturers are well aware of the fact that Group T or W aerials are no longer required, only Group A or K are needed. Even Group B is a bad idea as most of them go above C48.
Most manufacturers and suppliers will have a stock of W, T and B to get rid of, as no doubt will many retailers and installers! I doubt any can "afford" to scrap stock.
It's also likely that some manufacturers won't have "redesigned" Group K aerials for all their models as this obviously costs money and in the current economic climate they likely won't be rushing to do it!
As far as the 700MHz Clearance goes, it was well publicised by Freeview and DUK (as well as others) that COMs 7&8 would continue on UHF C55 & C56 until June 2022 on those main transmitters that were continuing to carry them (not all were). However COM8 closed in June 2020 for commercial reasons - the drop in advertising revenue affecting broadcasters during the Covid-19 pandemic. All that information was posted many times around this site on relevant transmitter pages by myself and a few others.
As far as anyone with an existing W, T or B aerial (and even possibly A or K in worst cases) who starts getting interference issues from new/upgraded phone masts, they can get Free Filters from Restore TV.
If you want a flatter gain response then a log periodic would be the best BUT you need a good enough signal as they can't give the gain that some of the very high gain yagis can give.
The answer is to check the manufacturer's gain curves before you buy (IF they actually have one, if not, go to another manufacturer if it's that important).
Oh, and just to clarify my remark about Dallington Park, it was just a suggestion to see of you could get enough signal off the BACK of your Sandy aerial (probably not) IF you were suffering interference on the Sandy PSBs (By the way, it's listed by OFCOM as 50W).
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Monday, 15 September 2025
J
John9:51 AM
They say that there are no engineering problems at Sandy heath but for many months now I am unable to watch television due to breakup of picture on all channels HD/SD. I have carried out a rescan but to no avail. For twenty years I have had a perfect reception my aerial is high gain and amplified so I am baffled as to why it has all gone pear shaped. Any advice would be appreciated.
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C
Chris.SE1:53 PM
John:
As you haven't given a full postcode, we can't check your predicted reception or indeed if you might be vulnerable to interference from a new/upgraded phone mast.
Have you received a postcard from Restore TV?
Sandy Heath was on Planned Engineering in early August, but isn't currently listed, but we know sometimes the lists aren't 100% accurate.
As you mention your aerial is high gain and amplified, it suggests you aren't in a particularly good reception area, but without the postcode we are unable to comment further on that.
There's also been weather conditions at times during recent months that have resulted in Tropospheric Ducting where interference from distant transmitters can occur or indeed just disrupt reception of weaker signals.
If the aerial system is 20 years old then, there could be degradation at the aerial connections, or to the downlead etc. If water has penetrated then this will cause issues as well.
Where is your amplification? If it's in the loft then check it still has power and look at the coax connector on the end of the lead for the aerial and check for water or corrosion.
Check your aerial is still pointing correctly, again without the postcode, we can't give you the direction/compass bearing, but it's rods (or squashed Xs) should be horizontal.
We could probably advise further checks if we have a bit more detail about the aerial installation, amplification etc.
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Saturday, 29 November 2025
Chris.SE:
Sorry well overdue in answering, my post code is PE166BT, RestoreTV sent me a filter but reception was good one day but then it went back to bad. I see they have been doing one hell of a lot of engineering work at Sandy Heath last few months on and off.
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Sorry about repeated emails it did not indicate that the original was sent.
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C
Chris.SE6:06 PM
John:
Don't worry about the repeated posts, there's frequently a delay between posting and it appearing on the site - it's supposedly checking for swear words and spam! The site software should get round to removing duplicates in due course. A belated reply is fine too!
Thanks for the postcode. Whilst you are some distance from the transmitter but not inordinately so - 42km, you are predicted to get good reception of all 6 main multiplexes. That's of course assuming you don't have any trees (or other local obstructions) nearby, directly in the line of site to the transmitter which is otherwise clear.
Your aerial should be pointing at compass bearing 207 degrees, that's circa SSW for you postcode and the rods (or squashed Xs) should be horizontal.
Check also, the end of the coax/plug direct from the aerial for corrosion/water as any such sign would indicate water entering the aerial connector box or coax.
With an amplified signal, there's two very important things.
1) Any filter MUST be fitted BEFORE any amp/splitter. If it's a mast-head amplifier then Restore TV should have asked/been told as they should then send an engineering Free of Charge to fit a waterproof external filter to the mast (and often do any additional work deemed necessary to fix your reception).
There are at least 3 mobile mast around or less than 1km from you, and certainly two of which are pretty well on the line-of-sight to Sandy Heath.
2) If the amplification is too high, especially if/when the interference is added in, it can overload the tuner front end which will degrade any signal and cause problems, .
Does your set have a section in the Tuning to check the Strength and Quality of each of the multiplex's UHF channels?
The other thing, when retuning, is to check that you are correctly tuned to Sandy Heath's UHF channels as weak signal (due to engineering etc) or adverse weather conditions can cause incorrect tuning to other transmitters.
The UHF channels should be C27, C24, C21, C33, C36, C48 that's in multiplex order PSBs1-3, COMs4-6. Manual tuning to those UHF channels is to be preferred if you regularly pick up any incorrect ones.
As far as the engineering work goes, virtually all (certainly main) transmitters have had Planned Engineering off and on over pretty well the last 2 years. We know that some of the work has been doing things like greasing stay cables and the like, no doubt to ensure the masts stay up in severe weather, it'll over a decade since a lot of such work may have been done at DSO. And when working close to the antenna, reduced power (or use of the reserve antenna lower on the mast) is needed for safely reasons.
Post back with any update or if you need any further explanation/help.
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Monday, 1 December 2025
Chris.SE: Hi Chris, Many thanks for all that useful information. I might take up the offer of RestoreTV which could be very useful and on the spot advice maybe the way to go.
Thanks once again.
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